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I would very much like to "pull an enrico" if there's another call to arms.

This doesn't exclude CMaster's supreme leader. Anyone who remembers Werner VS PS1 (or the beta / early days of PS2 when enrico was on Miller VS) will remember enrico.

He basically coordinated the whole empire. He would juggle leader comms, whispers, external voice comms and orders to help share information, organise reinforcements and movements etc.

Close to what our liaison role does, but to a much greater extent. Basically a liaison for every platoon in the game wrapped up in one person.

I've done this myself a few times in the past, in earlier days of PS2. I would like to do it again and get into a rhythym of doing it more often.

This doesn't exclude me from running a "bootplatoon" or a feeder platoon for the squad based platoons. But it does mean I will need more people in the bootplatoon to play mentor. JG was excellent at this last time. I will need volunteers to sit in the feeder platoon and explain everything. If I say anything like "relocate to warpgate for a Gal drop" someone needs to explain, in sentences, how to do that, what that means and why it's a valid strategy. Same with SCU, gens etc etc.

As for specific squad based comms. If we run a SL with RO system then the ROs need to be really on the ball. I would suggest that those who previously SL'd as part of StratGir play the RO role rather than the SL role. They will know what is needed in terms of sitreps and information sharing, and passing down orders.

We should also regularly state how the hierarchy works. ROs pass down orders, (e.g. "get this gen") SL give the "on the ground" tactical order.s (e.g. "Form up on my position and move with me".) If we do use that system. My biggest worry is that it runs the risk of being expcetionally confusing.

I don't think it's very confusing at all - SL leads the squad in battle, RO relays and receives information. Simple as. It's the same thing as the SL before split in two people to increase effiency. This time the job for ROs should be much less intense, and I think the call in system will incentivise people to use sitreps more. I think we need to hold a meeting/training for intel though, we are quite bad at it still - most don't give sitreps from their squads unless directly asked and most PLs don't ask, and when they do they don't receive good info.

I haven't played PS1, but I've read about enrico. One caveat though: with a whole support infrastructure, so when that person logs off for the last time, the whole thing doesn't crumble. And I am looking forward to our outfit's and faction's gameplay evolution to the point that we can accommodate such organisation.

I don't think it's very confusing at all - SL leads the squad in battle, RO relays and receives information. Simple as. It's the same thing as the SL before split in two people to increase effiency. This time the job for ROs should be much less intense, and I think the call in system will incentivise people to use sitreps more. I think we need to hold a meeting/training for intel though, we are quite bad at it still - most don't give sitreps from their squads unless directly asked and most PLs don't ask, and when they do they don't receive good info.

I said it runs the risk of being confusing, not that it is necessarily so.

Having leadership split across two people is counter to what most people expect / are used to. When it is explained clearly, as you did, it's fine. But it's not always explained. The system needs to be explained and it needs to be stuck to.

If we get the numbers, do not forget to actually try to make a huge galdrop/tank-column with it. Just once. To show everyone especially the new guys who bloody awesome the game can be. This is why Esamir could be really brilliant. Get everyone in warpgate load up with tanks, libs, scythes, sundies and make a massive concentrated push down to Eisa. Spread out and take surrounding territories and attack Eisa from multiple directions. If we have Eisa, push out from there in similar fashion.

Really Esamir is probably the best place for huge numbers of people to work together. Amerish will just force us to split up into tiny groups like last time, each squad on their own capping small bases.

By the way, I'll happily SL for this. And how about we do a scheduled half hour tutorial session, for those that will have just installed the game for the occasion? Some basic settings and UI tweaks (centralised HUD, raw mouse input, zooming in and out the minimap), jargon, how to do galdrops, etc.

If we get the numbers, do not forget to actually try to make a huge galdrop/tank-column with it. Just once. To show everyone especially the new guys who bloody awesome the game can be. This is why Esamir could be really brilliant. Get everyone in warpgate load up with tanks, libs, scythes, sundies and make a massive concentrated push down to Eisa. Spread out and take surrounding territories and attack Eisa from multiple directions. If we have Eisa, push out from there in similar fashion.

Really Esamir is probably the best place for huge numbers of people to work together. Amerish will just force us to split up into tiny groups like last time, each squad on their own capping small bases.

I said it runs the risk of being confusing, not that it is necessarily so.

Having leadership split across two people is counter to what most people expect / are used to. When it is explained clearly, as you did, it's fine. But it's not always explained. The system needs to be explained and it needs to be stuck to.

It's a good system, speaking from RL experience, but it needs discipline and training. Can't speak for SL/leadership but RO's primarily need to be people with good communication skills, able to convey orders/info in a clear, concise manner.

"Time is a companion, travelling with us on the journey of life, to remind us to cherish each moment as it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived."

If we get the numbers, do not forget to actually try to make a huge galdrop/tank-column with it. Just once. To show everyone especially the new guys who bloody awesome the game can be. This is why Esamir could be really brilliant. Get everyone in warpgate load up with tanks, libs, scythes, sundies and make a massive concentrated push down to Eisa. Spread out and take surrounding territories and attack Eisa from multiple directions. If we have Eisa, push out from there in similar fashion.

Really Esamir is probably the best place for huge numbers of people to work together. Amerish will just force us to split up into tiny groups like last time, each squad on their own capping small bases.

Agreed on Esamir being the best place for any kind large scale op. Amerish is very cramped, difficult to navigate for new players and a real pain for land vehicles.

The game is confusing enough as it is, we really should strive to ease new players into the game and show them the best it has to offer.

One thing I think we need to make sure of is to foster a good, fun environment for all the newbies to play in. I'm sure I don't need to post this as we all do enjoy ourselves, else we wouldn't be playing. But we should endeavour to make that the focal point of the evening.

I just want to ensure that people who do come along, stay. It'll help the VS numbers in general, and after some training and play time at least, will make us a much mroe effective force.

@Bankrotas: Maybe speak to Jim about a Call to Arms for you guys another week, aiming for a Friday?#

Honestly, I think the best thing to do with newbies is to get them into squads with others as soon as possible. Just remind squad leaders to keep explaining things and make extensive use of squad waypoints. So explain what galaxies and sundies are, waypoint the transport, waypoint the exact objective (eg generator, cap point, room to rally up in, whatever. Just keep that squad point up to date).

Honestly, if I could choose a continent without any other considerations, it would be Indar - it just has the most variety, and outside of the SE is quite easy to keep mobile. A lot of the reality will have to be on the night - practically, we need to be somewhere that is nowhere near population cap. My problem with Esamir is that it's very, very repetitive. Everything is the same, single colour, and fights tend to be an endless Saero-Glacier-Eisa push-pull.

Anyway, this thread was really about sorting out the practicalities, rather than slightly more philosophical issues, or things that are perhaps best left to the night (like continent choice). Or RO/SL split (this really comes down to the number of people we have willing to do either role)

Things I think I got so far:

We need somebody willing to basically greet people in mumble and invite them to outfit.

We should have ALL squads recruiting, saving the silly waste of time that is moving people. That way as well, people can see that they have joined squad Echo, and get in the right channel. "RPS Call to Arms GreekLetter" should be the format. I will put a guide up sometime this week on how to do this right.

A mumble admin should create a "Supreme Giraffe (and chums)" channel.

Anyone who thinks they may be an SL or radio operator should set up a shout to the supreme giraffe channel.

Anyone who thinks they may be a supreme giraffe should set up numpad (or other suitable keys) shouts to individual SL channels.

Supreme Giraffes should also ensure they have a "shout to all"

In-game platoon lead could be the secretary/XO role we have talked about before. With recruit up, this should largely come down to making sure SLs are the right people.

Any other practical issues we should have in hand before things kick off?

One practical issue: I use numpad keys already for various shouts, and for TVA TS, and am not too keen on having to set up lots of different keys, but that might be a 'me'-problem, and I might not need to be the Supreme Giraffe. Especially since I'm not even sure I can play.

That's not the setup myself or RIDEBIRD proposed, and is somewhat more complicated than I'd like.

What I'd go for, and mentioned above, is something nice and easy for people to step in to.
So it's simply that the RO/SL for each squad has a shout set up to the Supreme giraffe (perhaps better termed command group?, includes liaison as well?) channel. That's it, just one extra bind necessary. The SG then speaks to each squad/squad lead individually.

That's not the setup myself or RIDEBIRD proposed, and is somewhat more complicated than I'd like.

My bad. That was what Ridebird initially proposed, but then you both scratched the use of PLs. Deleted my post as to avoid further confusing people. If you'd like, replace my quote text with "Totally unrelated and unhelpful advice", so that that set up won't appear even as a quoted post.